Editing Pickens County, Alabama (section)

===20th century to present===
From 1940 to 1970, many African Americans left Pickens County to escape racial violence and oppression in the [[Great Migration (African American)|Great Migration]] to urban areas, as did other rural residents, because of lack of economic opportunity.

On April 8, 1998, a supercell thunderstorm produced an [[April 1998 Birmingham tornado|F3 tornado]] in Pickens County. This windstorm injured two people and damaged five homes including mobile homes. It rotated {{convert|17|mi|km|spell=in}} from Holman to north of Northport. Twenty-four homes and thirteen mobile homes were also in the path of destruction. Moments later, that same supercell thunderstorm produced an F5 tornado that struck northeastern Tuscaloosa near the [[Black Warrior River]] before entering western [[Jefferson County, Alabama|Jefferson County]] where it destroyed [[Oak Grove High School (Jefferson County, Alabama)|Oak Grove High School]] and killed thirty-two people in its path.

From 2000 to 2013 the county was again losing population. From July 2013 to July 2014, the population grew by 5.1%, making it the fourth-fastest growing county with at least 10,000 inhabitants. In 2014 it became the fastest-growing county in Alabama. But part of the growth was the result of the construction here of the [[Federal Correctional Institution, Aliceville]] federal women's prison. Prisoners are included in local census numbers, as are prison employees, some of whom came from other counties.<ref name=Kirbyprisonfastestgrowing>Kirby, Brendan. [http://www.al.com/news/index.ssf/2015/03/how_a_prison_made_rural_alabam.html "How a prison made rural Alabama area one of America's fastest-growing counties]", ([https://web.archive.org/web/20160304185603/http://www.al.com/news/index.ssf/2015/03/how_a_prison_made_rural_alabam.html Archive]). [[Al.com]]. March 26, 2015. Updated April 30, 2015. Retrieved on December 30, 2015.</ref>

In 2016, Black disabled veteran Sean Worsley was arrested in Pickens County for possession of prescription medical marijuana by Police Officer Carl Abramo of the Gordo Police Department. Worsley was arrested after stopping at a gas station when Abramo allegedly heard loud music and "observed a black male get out of the passenger side vehicle". In 2020, Mr. Worsley was extradited from his home state in Arizona to Pickens County, where he was sentenced by a judge to 60 months in the custody of the Alabama Department of Corrections.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Crowder|first=Carla|date=June 30, 2020|title=A Disabled Black Veteran with Prescribed Medical Marijuana in His Car Played Air Guitar while Pumping Gas in Alabama. Now He's Going to Prison.|url=https://www.alabamaappleseed.org/marijuana-reform/thrown-away/|access-date=2020-07-14|website=Alabama Appleseed|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=Armus|first=Teo|date=July 14, 2020|title=A disabled black veteran drove through Alabama with medical marijuana. Now he faces five years in prison|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/07/14/alabama-veteran-marijuana-prison/}}</ref>

In 2019, Sheriff David Abston resigned as part of a plea deal with federal officials. He pleaded guilty to scamming a local food bank and his own church for food to feed county prisoners. He then was able to pocket the savings. Abston had served in the office for more than thirty years.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Reeves |first1=Jeff |title=Alabama sheriff charged with scamming food bank, church |url=https://www.sfgate.com/news/crime/article/Alabama-sheriff-charged-with-scamming-food-bank-13998443.php |access-date=June 15, 2019 |agency=SF Gate |date=June 14, 2019}}</ref>